HPD to switch off new radios

By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Honolulu Police Department is suspending most use of its problem-plagued, $60 million digital radio system until a software problem is fixed.

Until then, most officers will use the old analog system. The switch back to analog will take place Dec. 2, but no one knows when the digital system will be put back in service.

The switch was announced in a department-wide memo dated Nov. 15, eight days after a faulty software upgrade shut down portions of the city's digital communications system for nearly nine hours.

It was the latest in a series of problems, including communication disruptions and gaps in radio coverage, that police have experienced since switching to the digital system in 1998. Officers say switching back to analog is a reasonable precaution to take until they are confident the upgraded digital system is reliable.

In the Nov. 15 memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Advertiser, Maj. Kenneth Simmons, commander of the department's communication division, wrote: "The switch is necessary until the digital software becomes acceptable for our operations."

Honolulu police spokeswoman Michelle Yu could not say today how long patrol officers would use the analog radio channels. Officers will use the same equipment, but on different channels.

Reach Scott Ishikawa at 525-8110 or sishikawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.